Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It has just struck me that one of the experts who appeared before the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment, Dr. Peter Thompson, was asked a question about this. I cannot repeat his reply verbatim but I remember he referred to "two doctors", "reasonable opinion" and "good faith". What way is this issue dealt with in other countries? Have any other countries referred to "28 days" or "29 days" in their legislation? This is important because I remember this being a significant topic for discussion. There was discussion around this taking longer than anticipated and about mothers being very distraught because of what they had been told 16 weeks earlier and so on. I understand the Minister's approach and support him but I am concerned about the emergence of this, about a definite line in the sand after which, as Deputy Daly has said, the 14 year period kicks in. It seems to me to be wrong, the way this is all folding together and is, in my view, contrary to what we did on 25 May. We have to work with it but I distinctly remember Dr. Peter Thompson, a consultant in foetal medicine at Birmingham Women's Hospital, speaking extensively on this subject.